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On Friday October 13th 1307 Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of the Knights Templar.

In his novel Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown cites the 14th century execution of Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay, which took place on Friday the 13th. He cursed the Pope and the King of France, and this spread misfortune down the ages.

It is also possible that the publication in 1907 of Thomas W. Lawson's popular novel Friday, the Thirteenth played a part in disseminating the superstition. In the novel, an unscrupulous stock broker takes advantage of the superstition to create a Wall Street panic on a Friday the 13th.

Bad things that have happened on Friday 13

In 1976, New Yorker Daz Baxter was apparently so afraid of Friday the 13th he decided the safest place to stay was his bed. However, Mr Baxter was killed when the floor of his apartment block collapsed that day.

In 2009, the £13.5 million SAW ride at Thorpe Park had its opening premiere, only to be shut down due to a computer programming fault. Spooky.

During the early 1990s retired bus conductor Bob Renphrey also vowed to stay in bed on the superstitious day after some seriously bad luck. The Welshman has crashed four cars, fallen into a river and been made redundant on previous Friday the 13ths.

The number 13 has been considered unlucky for many years, even before Christ. The number 12 is historically considered the number of completeness, while its older cousin, 13, has been seen as an outlier.

There are 12 months of the year, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 hours of the clock, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles of Jesus, 12 Descendants of Muhammad Imams, among many incidences of the pattern historically.

In many Western countries tall buildings are missing the 13th floor. In China the fourth floor and in some cases all floors with the number four are left out of Chinese buildings.Houses often do not have a number 13, and many hotels, including the Carlton in London, miss out a thirteenth floor.

It is considered very unlucky for thirteen people to dine together, and the first to rise will reach serious misfortune - a superstition upheld by US President Roosevelt. He also refused to travel on Friday the 13th.